Monday, July 29, 2013

Sticky Chicken Drumsticks (Curtis Stone)

"No bloody chicken drumsticks, please!""I promised."I must admit that the description of these sticky drumsticks sounds fingers-licking good... but there is no precise instructions on how to grill these drumsticks to avoid any "bloody" inside. All Curtis wrote is "transfer the drumsticks and marinade to baking sheet and broil, turning them occasionally and watching them closely for 25 minutes..." Is 25 minutes of grilling long enough to cook the chicken? What temperature should I use to broil these drumsticks?To keep my promise, I have to make sure that the insides of the drumsticks are thoroughly cooked without burning their outsides. To do that, I have covered the drumsticks with foil and cooked for 30 mins at lower temperature in the midst of grilling them.With these extra thoughts and efforts of grilling, I'm glad that our chicken drumsticks are thoroughly and also nicely cooked. - phew!

This recipe is published in the book, Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone. For this recipe, Curtis wrote "The first time I made this, I served it to a group of kids and watched them become instantly mesmerized as they devoured their dinner. Okay, so I've learned to serve them with napkins. I guess I am still a big kids." .... Curtis, please don't serve these with napkins... Licking the sticky fingers is good! - LOL!

My sticky chicken drumsticks

This Asian-style marinade uses fresh ginger!

Marinating the chicken

This is how I cooked these drumsticks

Honey for more stickiness!

Thumb-up!!!

Here's the recipe from Curtis Stone website or the book, Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone(with my notes and modifications in blue)

Serves 4 - 6 Ingredients 1/4 cup soy sauce1/4 cup Chinese barbecue sauce (char siu)1/4 cup honey3 garlic cloves, finely chopped1 tbsp finely chopped peeled fresh ginger12 chicken drumsticks2 tsp toasted sesame seedsMethod Mix the soy sauce, barbecue sauce, honey, garlic, and ginger in a resealable storage bag to blend. Add the chicken, seal the bag, and toss to coat with the sauce. Refrigerate for at least 1 hr but preferably overnight. Position an oven rack 8 to 10 inches from the heat source and preheat the broiler. (I preheated mine to 200°C fan forced with top grill)Line a large rimmed baking sheet with heavy-duty foil. Transfer the drumsticks and marinade to the prepared baking sheet and broil, turning the drumsticks occasionally and watching them closely for 25 mins, or until the chicken is cooked through and the marinade has glazed it is cooked through and the marinade glazes the chicken. The grilling time of the drumsticks is highly depending on the sizes and number of the drumsticks and the 18 ones that I was using were really huge. I have marinated the 18 drumsticks with double amount of marinade overnight. The drumsticks were grilled at 200°C fan forced with top grill for the first 20 mins. Lower the oven temperature to 160°C fan forced and cover the drumsticks with foil.and continue to cook for 30 mins. Remove foil and increase the oven temperature back to 200°C fan forced with top grill. The drumsticks were grilled for another 5 mins at each sides for a nice browning finish.Glaze with extra warmed honey. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the chicken, and serve.Happy BakingPlease support me and like me at Facebook...

It's thoughtful of you to put extra thoughts to not make bloody chicken. I love your idea of using aluminium foil. For me, I usually put my oven with fan-forced function as well as putting a tray in a tier above my baking tray of chicken. Absolutely love your sticky chicken drumsticks!! My tummy is rumbling now.

Hi Zoe! My personal experience is using 180C(fan forced) & I normally prick the chicken when marinating them & after finish grilling, you can even see the holes. I did it for all my grilled chicken maryland. Hmmm, now let me just appreciate these chicken drumsticks!

Zoe, I love chicken drumsticks and my family also favors drumsticks over all the other pieces. I love how it turned out for you and such a great recipe from Curtis Stone. The sesame seeds add extra flavor and makes it look pretty!